The writer is the person who stands outside society, independent of affiliation and independent of influence.
Don DelilloRead
When you try to unravel something you've written, you belittle it in a way. It was created as a mystery.
Interpretation
Overanalyzing your writing can diminish its artistic value and the mystery it holds.
This quote by Don Delillo highlights the tension between creation and analysis in the realm of writing. When a writer dissects their own work too thoroughly, they risk reducing the intrigue and emotional depth that originally made it captivating, as each piece of art is often layered with meaning that does not need to be fully understood to be appreciated.
In practice
This quote could be used during a writing workshop to encourage participants to embrace the mystery of their creative work.
The writer is the person who stands outside society, independent of affiliation and independent of influence.
War is the form nostalgia takes when men are hard-pressed to say something good about their country.
American writers ought to stand and live in the margins, and be more dangerous.
For me, writing is a concentrated form of thinking.
I used to think it was possible for an artist to alter the inner life of the culture. Now bomb-makers and gunmen have taken that territory.
[I]n the American soul there is a lonely individual standing in a vast landscape. β¨He is either on a horse or driving a car, depending, and either way heβs carrying a gun. β¨This is one of the essential images in American mythology.
Like a piece of ice on a hot stove the poem must ride on its own melting.
To me, part of the beauty of a comma is that it offers a rest, like one in music: a break that gives the whole piece of music greater shape, deeper harmony. It allows us to catch our breath.
Clothes are unique sculptures, dependent on a supporting human form and created to move.
Without foundations, there can be no fashion.
The Mediterranean has the color of mackerel, changeable I mean. You don't always know if it is green or violet, you can't even say it's blue, because the next moment the changing reflection has taken on a tint of rose or gray.
Dance is for everybody. I believe that the dance came from the people and that it should always be delivered back to the people.
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